With apologies to John Ondrasik’s band of the same name, and in response to Dave Miller’s humble yet impassioned plea for content, I introduce five “short” topics for your consideration. No, these ideas are not developed into full-length feature articles. Is that always necessary? I re-read Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” this morning, appreciating both his master storytelling and his brevity. Why take forever to say something if you can say it briefly?
1. Rooftop Sex in the Bible
So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel. (2 Samuel 16:22)
I cannot imagine invoking a more sinful image of sexual exploitation than the one found in the above verse. If I had asked Karen to join me on the roof of our church and record some lessons on sex to be viewed by both men and women, she would be wise enough to talk me out of this idea, and I would be sensitive enough to listen. Karen brought up Ed and Lisa Young’s sexperiment the other day. Her coworker had mentioned it to her, asking in jest if we had any such plans. While I’m not bothered at all by their decision to address the subject, I do wonder why they have chosen to address it for a coed audience and to do this from a rooftop.
2. Grace and Lisa at the Women’s Conference
While I appreciate the submissive spirits of Mrs. Young and Mrs. Driscoll in supporting the teaching ministries of their husbands, I wonder how this display will affect them in their fellowship with other women, perhaps at a Beth Moore Conference. Woman to Grace, in that high pitched small talk voice: “So, Grace, read any good books lately?” And to Lisa: “Things have been so crazy in my world. What have you been up to?” By making their private lives so public, walls of modesty have been torn down here that can never be rebuilt. One does not have to be physically naked to be exposed. Can there be such a thing as sexual exploitation within the practice of a teaching ministry? Put another way, might we wrongfully be placing ladies in an immodest position as an inappropriate means to the admittedly good end of biblical sex education?
3. Blog Personalities and Real Life
It was my pleasure to spend the day yesterday with CB Scott, live and in person. We had a great time commuting to and from a wonderful conference led by Dr. Timothy George, Dean of Beeson Divinity School. Formerly, my impression of CB was based only upon blogposts boasting of SABANATION and all things Crimson Tide. I imagined him as a larger than life John the Baptist personality, prone perhaps to overstatement, eating locusts and honey, dressed in camel’s hair and boldly going where only Bear Bryant had gone before! In person, I found him to be bright, articulate, intelligent, well mannered and thoughtful–a true gentleman and a scholar, extremely well versed in all aspects of Baptist life past and present. Frankly, and I mean this as a compliment, CB’s a lot smarter in person!
4. The American Revolution and Romans 13
Prior to yesterday, I had never considered what I understand to be John MacArthur’s claim that the American Revolution was a violation of Scripture in that our Founding Fathers did not simply “submit to the governing authorities” as established by God. To be clear, Dr. George disavowed such a position himself, but I could not help but speculate that, in the church where I serve, filled with patriots and military veterans, if I were to have suggested in last Sunday’s sermon that our Founding Fathers had fought for our freedoms in an act of disobedience to God, I would be looking for a new place of ministry today.
5. SBC Name Older Than Darwinism
While preparing for a sermon on God’s creation this coming Sunday, I reflected briefly on the relative infancy of Darwinian evolution, since his Origin of the Species was only written in 1859. In light of our current considerations regarding the name of our convention, it seems prudent to acknowledge that the Southern Baptist Convention existed under our current name fourteen years prior to Darwinism. I admit proponents of a name change could easily use this observation to argue that the name is so old it is high time to change it. On the other hand, I would exercise caution in the other direction. Rather than catering to the whims of what may prove to be only a temporary fad of so-called “gospel” or “missional” relevance, we might do well to recognize and appreciate the value of maintaining our name and the historical significance it represents by identifying the world’s largest non-Catholic denomination. Older than Darwinism, the name SBC may not need to evolve.